Barnsley ended a three game losing run, however, by extending their first game of a new year record to one win in seven years they are now hovering just two points above the League One drop zone.
The
Reds have now won only one of their opening games of a calendar year since 2018
with this their first draw since 2019 (W1 D2 L4)
With
three defeats and a draw Barnsley have failed to win any of the games immediately prior to Christmas/Boxing Day/the game after Boxing Day/first game
of a calendar year for the first since 2013-2014 (D2 L2)
Barnsley
were behind here after just six minutes, the earliest conceded in a league
match since the first home game of the season against Burton (four minutes)
It
is the ninth different time they have conceded before the tenth minute this
season in all competitions – it happened on only three occasions last season
Adam
Phillips earnt the Reds a point in the second half, the second successive year
he has netted on New Year’s Day.
It
is the second time in three years Barnsley and Wigan have played out a 1-1 draw
with each other having done so at Oakwell in 2024.
Barnsley
ended the game with ten men following a red card for captain Luca Connell, the
second time in four years the Reds have had a man sent off in their first game
of a calendar year with Mads Andersen red carded against Bolton on the 2nd
January 2023.
It
is Barnsley’s fourth red card of the season but the first not for two yellows
and is Barnsley’s first straight red since Mael de Gevigney against Birmingham
on the 5th April 2025.
It is the first time since the
aforementioned Anderson red that a straight red has been Barnsley’s only card
in a game.
This result means Barnsley have kept
only two league clean sheets in 2025-2026 so far, it is the first time they
have kept so few shut-outs by the new year since 2013-2014 when it took until
the 18th January to keep a third and the first time at this level
since 2002-2003 when it didn’t arrive until the 25th January.
David McGoldrick set up Phillips
equaliser, the 12th different player to assist a goal for the Reds
in 2025-2026 and his first direct goal involvement in ten appearances since
netting a hattrick against Manchester United Under21s in the EFL Trophy in
October.
This
was Barnsley’s third 1-1 draw of the season which puts it one ahead of 2-2.
A
draw is the most common outcome in matches between Barnsley and Wigan with this
the tenth stalemate compared to seven Wigan wins and four for Barnsley.
Four
out of the last five meetings have finished 1-1 with the exception a 1-0 Reds
defeat.
Each
of the last three meetings at Wigan have finished 1-1 and the Reds are now
unbeaten in their last five trips and have lost only one of the last eight.
No
team has scored more than once in any of the last five meetings overall with
the Reds the last to do so in a 2-0 win at Wigan in August 2023.
Barnsley
Team:
1. Murphy Cooper
27. Tennai Watson
6. Mael de Gevigney
5. Jack Shepherd
32. Josh Earl
11. Fabio Jalo
8. Adam Phillips
22. Patrick Kelly
48. Luca Connell
10. David McGoldrick
40. Davis
Keillor-Dunn
Substitutes:
30. Jonathan Bland
(for Kelly 45)
19. Reyes Cleary (for
Jalo 45)
45. Vimal Yoganathan
(for McGoldrick 87)
Unused Substitutes:
51. Kieren Flavell, 7. Caylan Vickers, 39. Leo Farrell, 23. Neil
Farrugia.
Wigan
Team:
1. Sam Tickle
23. James Carragher
4. Will Aimson
3. Morgan Fox
21. Raphael Borges Rodrigues
6. Jensen Weir
35. Tyrese Francois
7. Fraser Murray
43. Harrison Bettoni
11. Dara Costelloe
8. Callum Wright
Substitutions:
44. Joseph Hungbo
(for Rodrigues 67)
9. Christian Saydee
(for Bettoni 67)
37. Maleace Asamoah
(for Costelloe 81)
Unused
Substitutes:
30. Toby Savin, 5.
Steven Sessegnon, 20. Callum McManaman, 27. Tobias Brenan.
League One Results
Thursday 1st January
Doncaster
Rovers (23rd) 1-1 Bolton Wanderers (6th)
Middleton 54
Dempsey
78
Exeter
City (15th) 1-0 Luton Town (8th)
Sweeney 50
Leyton
Orient (18th) 1-3 AFC Wimbledon (12th)
Ballard 6
Mitchell
og 24
Hippolyte
69
Browne
86
Lincoln
City (2nd) 1-1 Huddersfield Town (5th)
Castledine
61
Reach 69
Mansfield
Town (9th) 3-0 Bradford City
Oates 22
Akins 37
Oates 67
Northampton
Town (19th) 0-0 Stockport County (4th)
Port
Vale (24th) 5-1 Blackpool (17th)
Bloxham
27
Stockley 54
Byers 58
Headley 73
Cole 86
Curtis 90+4
Reading
(10th) 2-0 Burton Albion (20th)
Marriott 18
Kyerewaa 37
Rotherham
United (22nd) 0-2 Peterborough United (11th)
Rafferty
og 6
Khela
73
Stevenage
(7th) 1-1 Plymouth Argyle (21st)
James-Wildin 53
Boateng
68
Wycombe
Wanderers (13th) 1-1 Cardiff City (1st)
Willock
6
Boyd-Munce 30
Wigan
Athletic (14th) 1-1 BARNSLEY (16th)
Costelloe 6
Phillips
69
Barnsley
lie in 16th place in Sky Bet League One with 29 points from 21 games.
We are 9 points off the Play-Offs, 16 points off the Automatic Promotion Places,
19 points off First Place and 2 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 2/1/26
Next Up:
On The Road:
Sky Bet League One
Matchday Twenty Two: Port Vale v Barnsley, Sunday 4th January 2026.
Kick-Off: 3pm
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet League One
Matchday Twenty Three: Barnsley v Blackpool, Saturday 17th January
2026. Kick-Off: 3pm
